


Faith

by HeroofProcrastination



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Anger, Character Study, Child Link (Legend of Zelda), Demonic Possession, Introspection, Loss of Faith, Not Beta Read, One Shot, POV Ganondorf, POV Third Person, Possession, Pre-Calamity Ganon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-05-14 02:26:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19264087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeroofProcrastination/pseuds/HeroofProcrastination
Summary: Hylia taught that Dark magic was powerful but of the demon Demise and therefore corrupted. But did it? Ganon looked up at the pin points in the sky, little twinkling lights running across the vast sea above.What if Hylia is wrong?





	Faith

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! My first work in the Zelda fandom, and honestly I should be working on other fics, but I couldnt get this idea out of my head. 
> 
> I wanted to take an approach of religion in Hylia, I thought it was very interesting that praying to her was a feature in the game. I also wanted to touch on some dissatisfying situations in life for this. 
> 
> Anyways! Thank you everyone!

It started with a simple voice, something small and pesky, but a voice nonetheless. It was deep and saturated in anger, but it whispered so seductively, it always came at unconventional times, and intruded always when he was meant to be praying. 

 

It started when he turned sixteen, he was one of the only males born to the gerudo name, and he had been proud of that fact. Ganon they had named him, to be blessed with strength and power; and strength he had. He was stronger and faster than other gerudo’s and he always wanted to win. He was respectful, born to the sister of Urbosa, the soon to be leader of the Gerudo. He had a name to uphold. 

 

But for the first time ever when he kneeled down before the goddess and closed his eyes and clasped his hands a different voice whispered into his ear.  _ What if she’s fake?  _

 

Now...that couldn’t be right, Ganon had been raised on the teachings of the goddess Hylia, and seen her blessings with the kingdom of Hyrule and so on. Everyone knew the great evil of the land and how Hylia had saved the world from the evil demon Demise.  _ But...had she?  _

 

_ Had Ganon REALLY seen blessings?  _

 

Ganon soon learned to ignore the intrusive voice, but subconsciously he had started to stop praying. The next thing that happened was the empathy. That came as a surprise, even to Ganon. He saw the monsters almost every week, lost in the desert- running wild and attacking travellers who were brave enough to trek the sands. Ganon had run out and attack said demons and watched them disappear in a puff of smoke with satisfaction...suddenly as he ran his scimitar through that Mogoblin, gutted the beast- the squeal that pealed out was enough to make the hairs on Ganon’s arms stand up. It was wrong...so so wrong...the smoke stunk in his nostrils and wafted behind him when he returned home. 

 

That night he didn’t pray to the goddess in thanks for protection. Instead he sat and could hear the squeal in his mind over and over again.  _ They’re creatures too.  _

 

But they weren’t! They were monsters! They lived to destroy and conquer and were born of evil! That was all. And yet...the cry...it hurt. 

 

Ganon soon found out the empathy only went for monsters and creatures of the night. He watched as a young gerudo had been terribly unfortunate and lost an arm with a lizalfos. Ganon had watched and the first thought in his mind had been  _ good.  _ He was horrified with himself, mortified to hear how he had thought she needed to learn a lesson with messing with things she ought not to. Ganon was being twisted and it scared him. 

 

He sat down in the desert at night and stared at the stars and he watched as the monsters sniffed his way and smirked and ran off. They no longer attacked him...he didn’t know why as of late, only that they just acknowledged him. It was wrong. He had stolen a book from Urbosa’s study and flipped through the pages, flipped through the teachings of Hylia. Creatures of the dark were meant to be destroyed and magic of the night was even more forbidden.  _ Why? _

And the voice was right...why? The Desert was filled with dark magic...in fact it was the easiest to perform out in the hot sun. Ganon had heard of the Yiga clan to the North of the desert weaving new paths through dark magic. At one point the Gerudo had practiced said magic in the ancient past...but Hylia had told them to stop and the Gerudo’s had been discriminated against because of this rift. Over time they had finally found peace...as of seven Kings ago of theHylians. Which might seem long to Hylians...but to the Gerudo...not terribly long. 

 

Hylia taught that Dark magic was powerful but of the demon Demise and therefore corrupted.  _ But did it? _ Ganon looked up at the pin points in the sky, little twinkling lights running across the vast sea above. 

 

_ What if Hylia is wrong? _

  
  


-

  
  


Ganon had stopped praying to Hylia, finding the statue present at their home as...well meddlesome. It stood there and gave them hope for what? To teach them another race of creatures were better? And another was worse? Why did Hylia get to decide the Hylians were precious and the Monsters were not. Just because she did not domain over the night she outcasted it? It didn’t necessarily seem fair or right to Ganon. 

 

Wasn’t it just three Queens ago of the Gerudo’s that the Hylians called them cruel words, banned them from Hyrule? And viewed them as below them. How could Ganon trust such a civilization or Goddess. So Ganon sat and fumed, marinating in his fury, and read. He found ancient scrolls that depicted the legends of Hylia and her goodness and numerous burnt scrolls hiding something else. 

 

He didn’t understand. Why was so much missing from their history? Why were there scraps of scrolls that had been torn? What was the meaning of it all? Ganon searched and searched and his anger grew when he saw the names of all the historians. Hylians. Every. Last. One. of. Them. 

 

Why was there no Gerudo History written by Gerudo?! How could he trust an outsider’s point of view! 

 

That day Ganon had thrown his personal statue of Hylia out his window, and with sickening glee laughed as it shattered. 

 

Of course Ganon was bugged, there were fights, even Urbosa was starting to take notice- even leaving her precious Hylian Queen friend to lecture Ganon. It was all kinds of wrong and Ganon hated how much his people were willing to overlook. Couldn’t they see!? **_Hylia wasn’t good!_**

 

The first time Ganon became scared of the one voice in his head was on his eighteenth birthday. It was a big deal for a Gerudo male to be born and to even then become an adult! It had been a fairly wonderful celebration until his mother brought him to the statue of Hylia to pray. It was a simple gesture, something all mothers did when their children became of age- to hand off their children to their beloved goddess for protection in the future. 

 

And yet when Ganon stepped before that statue he did not feel comfort, in fact he felt a harsh pain as anger split his head wide open and he was covered in a sea of maroon. 

 

When he did come back...his mother cowered from his touch, the statue demolished beyond recognition. And Ganon? His fingers bloodied and his knuckles cracked. He couldn’t help but gaze at his own hands in horror. When….when had he done this? When had he destroyed Hylia’s image? When had he terrified his mother? It was wrong. 

 

Ganon didn’t leave his room for a week then- noticing now that the voice in his head wasn’t just his own thoughts but something else. It wasn’t wrong...or at least Ganon didn’t think it was wrong...it seemed reasonable but it had scared his mother...and consequently himself. 

 

Maybe  _ Hylia was wrong _ , but maybe the voice in his head wasn’t right. 

 

It took Urbosa to get him out, with his hair in disarray and his arms scratched up. The voice whispering such dark thoughts and when his aunt stepped into view for the first time in his life he thought - _ She’s unworthy of a leader. _ Ganon never thought that! He had always admired Urbosa’s strength and fury. She was someone he had always inspired to be like, and yet...all he felt was absolute disgust by her holding a higher position than he. It was wrong! So so wrong! And Ganon knew he was being distorted. 

 

He looked at his aunt’s green eyes and wailed, he felt the blinding pain in his arms, the burning sensation of something ( _ power _ ) in his hand, and saw a soft glow. Her eyes were so gentle as she crouched beside him as he sobbed.

 

“Help me.” and he hated himself for asking for help,  _ hated himself for being weak. _

 

“Ganon…” She whispered with the same tendon as the wind. Her fingers so light as she brushed the wild strands away from his face, and her eyes as gentle as dew drops. Ganon cried that day, for his confusion, for his mother, and for all the monsters he had murdered...no tears were for Hylia. 

 

-

“Let me see your hand.” Urbosa’s eyes were sharp when she wanted them to be, she was good at appearing as an intimidating force or a gentle leader if she wanted.  _ A formidable foe. _

 

Ganon shook his head and she raised an eyebrow at him and Ganon realized she thought he had said no to her. He thrust his hands foreward in response. She eyed him carefully and twisted his hands down to look at the back of his palms. It was then Ganon saw it...how had he missed it? A mark as prominent as that? A Triangle, with three triangles inside...he had seen it before...he knew he had...a mark of the Hylians? 

 

"What?" He whispered and Urbosa sighed with such pain Ganon didn't know what to think. Why had she sighed like that? What was wrong? 

 

"You've been experiencing doubts in our Goddess." It wasn't a question, but a statement. Ganon nodded and Urbosa turned away her back an imposing sight.

 

"And you've experienced anger beyond your control." Despite not being able to see him Urbosa and Ganon both knew the answer to that question; yes. 

 

Ganon hugged his hand back to his chest in confusion, why did this matter, why was this mark on his body? Why hadn't he noticed it before?

 

"I heard you were searching through the studies" 

 

"I wanted to find the truth of Hylia." Urbosa turned slightly her intense green eyes meetings Ganon's own yellow. 

 

"Hylia? Not our goddess?" Gannon was surprised by the snarl that curled on his lips at that statement. Urbosa doesn't look shocked in the least and it made Ganon sick for some reason. 

 

"I see." She nodded, "Ganon I'm sure you noticed the lack of scrolls in our history, and the scrolls that were written by our own is nonexistent" Ganon watches carefully and he feels himself start to circle around his aunt; like a predator. 

 

She watches him lazily and she sighs.

 

"There is a legend, a legend that was lost to the Hylians...to the Zoras and the Ritos, perhaps even to the gorons." She offered. 

 

"The only reason we remember was because of word of mouth" she starts walking out and Ganon can't help but follow her as she headed to her personal chambers. She is silent as she pulls out a small rock out of the tiled wall and revealed a secret hole. He didn't know what to think as she slowly pulled out an old scroll. 

 

"We had started to believe it was a legend," the edges were burnt and ruined, it was an old creaky leather scroll, and it seemed to cry out as Urbosa unrolled it. Ganon could see the scroll depict a large beast. 

"After the great fire we lost much of our history...the blasted Yiga clan." Ganon hadn't heard of any great fire, but he wasn't surprised to hear of the Yiga clan causing issues.

 

She sighed as she ran her fingers over the images on the worn leather. 

"Much of everyone's history has been lost…"  she slowly lifted her eyes to gaze deeply into Ganon's own. 

"This is one of the last scrolls that confirms those myths as fact." She stepped forward and Ganon didn't know what he was looking at, at first. A dark boar like demon stared back at him, a young woman in white with her arms raised on the left and on the right was another young man, a sword in hand. 

 

"What is this?" Ganon whispered softly.  _ Our destiny. _

 

"A prophecy? Or so the Hylians think." She stepped forward and slowly lifted a perfect finger to the symbol bursting out of the woman's hand. The same triangular mark as the one on his hand. 

 

"That's…" Ganon couldn't lift his head. 

 

"It's proper name is the Triforce. My dear friend has gifted this scroll to me to warn me." Urbosa told him.

 

"The Hylian?" Ganon wanted to know. A scowl was his response. 

 

"The  _ Queen _ , Ganon." 

 

_ No Queen of ours.  _ Right...she was Hylian, she held no power over Ganon. 

 

"It's already started...I can see it. I had hoped, perhaps.." Urbosa cried out, she looked so forlorn... _ weak. _

 

"Hoped for what?" Ganon's hands tightened and he could hear the leather beneath his fingers strain. 

 

His aunt looked torn, torn and broken and she whispered softly, "the young princess Zelda has been born with the same mark."

 

Ganon furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.  _ Hylia _ . Came the spat in the back of his mind. 

 

"Then you mean?" He gazed back at the scroll and watched as his fingers caused cracks in it's very surface. 

 

"There is always three Ganon. That's what the legend says, the princess or the sage, the knight, and the demon." Ganon looked back at the mark on his hand with fascination. 

 

"That means...if the princess is already born then I'm? Either the Knight or the Demon?" Urbosa looked absolutely devastated.

 

"Oh Ganon…I fear I already know what you are." 

 

Ganon snapped his head up, "You think I'm the demon! Don't you!?" Urbosa's jade eyes were no longer meeting his and the fury Ganon felt was sickening. He wanted to  _ tear her throat out _ . 

 

"Ganon...you've already become twisted...But! That doesn't mean you have to become the demon! Now we know! We can stop this!" Urbosa was desperate, it was clear enough to Ganon. Her fingers felt like cuffs on his wrists and suddenly he detested her touch. 

 

"We'll send you to Hyrule! They'll know how to stop this prophecy!" Ganon felt his heart shatter...they really thought him a demon...why was  _ everyone so blind! _

 

Couldn't they see! Everyone was  _ being tricked by Hylia! _

 

"No Ganon! Look at me!" And those cold hands were on his cheek and he was finally looking back into the eyes of his aunt. 

"You! Are a brave! Strong! Gerudo! One of the best! A Gerudo like you only comes once every one hundred years! Do not let this demon cloud your mind! You're stronger than that!" 

 

Ganon blinked, the fury dissipated like fog in the morning air. She was right...Ganon was stronger than this! Stronger than Hylia and certainly stronger than any demon trying to own him! He wasn't going to be taken just like that. 

 

Ganon nodded in understanding...he didn't want his mother cowering, or his aunt devastated, he might not be able to forgive the teachings of Hylia...be he would be damned by the Gods if he let some Demon parade through his skin. 

 

-

 

And so...Ganon went on that journey, it would take a couple days...the Desert was a while away from Hyrule Castle. But the Gerudo guards with him were happy to come along. Ganon had been furious about it at first, he  _ didn't need any guards.  _ But it became clear it was more for show if anything. Ganon was born of the royal family...to have him travel alone would be seen...well unsavory but  _ that was Hylian tradition and it was distasteful _ . 

 

The monsters did nothing to their troop, in fact they seemed to whoop and cheer in the distance. The royal guards were formidable women, but even they showed their disturbance. 

 

The first thing that bothered Ganon was the cold. He shirt barely doing anything when the wind hit and his pants doing nothing to stop the fairly frequent showers. Ganon decided then he  _ hated Hyrule.  _

 

There were many stables and villages along the way to accommodate them and many of them filled with Hylian faces all looking too curious for their own good. Some of the children were too, annoying too pesky. Ganon found comfort in solitude in the fields, watching with rapt fascination of the monsters starting to spread through the land. 

  
  


By the time they found themselves in the Hyrule Castle Town Gannon found himself absolutely disgusted. The air too cold, too frigid, the people so small, and the world around him too busy. He constantly was being brushed against and his skin seemed to become ablaze with the unwanted touch. 

 

_ King  _ Rhoam was the first to welcome him, he did not bow and it made Ganon's insides clench, and his lip curl. Beside him was his wife,  _ Queen _ Hilda, and in her arms was a small child...the princess Zelda then-  _ Hylia.  _

 

“Welcome Prince Ganon, we’ve been expecting you.” King Rhoam boasted, too loudly Ganon thought.  _ Detestable. _

  
  


“Come! come!” He smiled and he motioned Ganon to follow, and Ganon didn’t want to. His guards watch in trepidation but Ganon couldn’t give up too soon...he had a mission here. 

  
  


It was a relatively boring two days at Hyrule Castle. Ganon was treated to by King Rhoam and his voice was grating. Queen Hilda and Princess Zelda was conveniently missing from most meals and afternoons, and even mornings. Apparently Queen Hilda had been ill as of late and Princess Zelda refused to leave her side. 

 

In a way Ganon was furious with their absence- their blatant disrespect for his visit, but on the other hand he was glad to be free of dealing with another Hylian Royal. 

 

That blessing did not last long. Ganon found himself face to face with the Hylian Queen with much annoyance. Her hair was golden just as her precious daughter and her eyes were a striking blue. She smiled softly but she looked frail and  _ weak. So very weak. All the Hylians are weak! _

 

"Ganon, may I see your hand?" She had a hand delicately poised to take his, and as much as it hurt Ganon allowed her to. She nodded in assessment, twisting Ganon's hand left and right with a hum. He couldn't help but notice how the birthmark like stigma seemed to catch the light at times and shimmer. 

 

"So it's true...you've been given the mark of the triforce." Her voice was fragile, barely above a whisper. She looked up at Ganon's own eyes and something about those blue eyes that made Ganon want to scream.

 

She started walking away and Ganon followed, he assumed she meant for him too. Along their path in silence the princess had joined them. Ganon wasn't sure when she had, she hadn't been there and with a blink...she had. 

 

He found himself stepping outside into the familiar sun but they were higher up, wind almost whipping, throwing his long hair into total disarray. 

 

The Queen's study was something to see. It was small with limited space, but that was not due to the size of the room. Every book and cranny was filled with notes and scrolls and journals, and with sickening shock Ganon saw Gerudo scrolls written by Gerudos. There was history here, from everywhere, the Zora's, Rito's even the Gorons. Ganon scanned the scrolls not noticing how the Princess Zelda seemed to hold an immediate fear of him, scurrying herself into a corner. 

 

The Queen pulled out numerous scrolls, many far too old to realistically be in such good condition, and even then their language wasn't-or at least to Ganon- legible. 

 

"We were lucky the Sheikah have been so rigid in their values over the years...you see every one hundred years there's a disaster and all our history is usually lost." Ganon tuned into the Queen's words, he wanted to know. 

 

"The Sheikah have been keepers of history and traditions for eons looking after this land...but when they split and the Yiga clan sought to destroy all history the Sheikah felt compelled to find a safer option for such important…" Hilda ran her fingers over a page impressively delicate, "knowledge." 

 

She moved over the scrolls and Ganon came closer to eye what answers they supposedly held. 

"You see...the Yiga clan successfully destroyed almost all the scrolls about one legend in particular.." she looked over at Ganon with tragic eyes. 

 

"The legend of Hylia and Demise...and the Triforce." So...the same legend as the one his aunt had coveted. 

 

"And why would they destroy such a simple myth?" 

 

"We don't know...but I assume something or someone has compelled them to." The Demon's name went unsaid, but it was obvious, in fact it made Ganon snarl at her. Princess Zelda disappeared behind a bookcase but Hilda held no reaction. In someway Ganon almost felt respect for her bravery...or perhaps her acceptance.

 

"All we really have are personal accounts," she held up small worn journals, "songs," she gestured to some smaller scrolls, "and some half written historical allusions in passages." She then nodded to the large dusty chronicles in the bookcase to Ganon's left. 

 

"Sometimes we get lucky and there are actual tales of the prophecy, or the curse...but for the most part we only have drawings." She unraveled a long scroll and Ganon realized it was an artwork, long and vertical and absolutely terrifying- and yet...the look of glowing yellow eyes of the demon and the red fire asat on their crown filled Ganon with  _ pride.  _

 

That was the depiction of a creature of  _ power. _

 

A Journal this time, and inside looks to be sketches, many look fairly domestic and mundane; people dancing with strange clothes on, others with masks on, strange creatures and knights on horses. There was on sketch in particular that Hikda simply flipped passed that made Ganon's blood boil. It depicted a small child with a strange hat upon his head, and a fairy in his hands. It was all Ganon could make out before Hilda showed a picture of a Pig demon with two swords. 

 

It was a ferocious sight and the sketch was hasty and rushed as if the artists had shakenly scratched in something before running away. But suddenly the pages afterwards were of a princess or what Ganon assumed to be a princess, and her knight, ironically enough there was sketches of a Sheikah in the book, their symbol the exact same. 

 

Another scroll came next and this time Ganon felt his heart leap into this throat. The painting was a little too close for comfort, it was clearly a Gerudo, what with the large stature and brilliant red hair. The marking were the same and the familiar jewelry were all the same, this man was a Gerudo...and his eyes and face was too similar for comfort. 

 

"His name was Ganondorf." Ganon choked.

 

"He was another person possessed by the Demon...or so we can assume" and if Ganon didn't already see the giant pig like face behind the King he would have yelled at her for her assumptions.

 

"The thing is Ganon throughout history there is a repeating theme, a repeating story throughout all our records spanning back even before the Sheikah...a story of a war." 

 

"The war of Hylia and Demise, I know." Hilda pulled out a book at Ganon's snarl, did she really think him that stupid not to know the damn basis of the religion the Hylians had thrust upon his people?!

 

"Not exactly.." she hummed, flipping the worn pages to a specific spot, the page depicted a triforce and three women at each corner. He didn't know what or who they were. 

 

"We can't translate their words but we can see their names…" she lifted a finger to point to the weirdly familiar symbol of wavy lines, the woman's face underneath it at the top of the triforce.

"Din, the goddess of power we assume," she moved left to the symbol that reminded him of the Zora's, "Nayru, the goddess of wisdom," she then slid her finger across the page to the right to the symbol he had never seen before, "and Fraroe, the goddess of Courage" 

 

"And what's the point of them?" Queen Hilda raised a perfect eyebrow up at Ganon's question.

 

"It seems the fight of Hylia and Demise isn't all that it's believed to be...that the triforce you and my daughter have marks you as apart of a prophecy true...but it also marks you one of these goddesses' power." She grabbed Ganon's hand let the light hit it just right so only the top triangle shimmered. 

"You see...power."

 

"Come here Zelda, love." Ganon couldn't keep his eyes away from the small pale child. Her mother twisted her hand as well and the left triangle shimmered.

"And wisdom." She did not drop her daughter's hand. 

 

"We don't know what each of these goddesses mean in terms of the prophecy of the war...but we know it has some form of connection." Ganon felt sick...these weren't answers! And Zelda's green eyes poised on him were enough to make Ganon want to destroy something. 

 

"So this is useless information...what I need to know is about this prophecy!" He snapped at the woman, and wasn't surprised when Zelda jumped back; wisdom indeed. 

 

"We don't have it all...but it seems, despite all attempts the demon Demise will find a way into the world, he will find someone to take over. And in response, the other two of the triforce will be summoned to stop the destroyer, a sage of light-a princess...and a hero." 

 

"So you're saying the Demon goes after someone of the triforce...someone these goddesses give their mark too?" 

 

"It would appear so…" 

 

"I assume you believe you're daughter the sage of light." Ganon growled out. A nod. 

 

"That leaves the demon or the hero." Ganon muttered, "and I'm sure you view me as the demon." Queen Hilda sighed, but it was answer enough; yes. 

 

The fury inside Ganon swelled. 

 

"What makes you think that?" He turned back to the entrance. 

"I've been told by your aunt you've found yourself doubting Hylia's truth." Something snapped in Ganon. 

 

"And that's enough to view me as a demon!" 

 

"No. It's the fact you used to be so devout before. It was too quick of a change." 

 

"Maybe my eyes  _ were open to the truth!"  _ Ganon shouted out, whipping around. 

 

"What truth Ganon?" Ganon scowled and stared at the floor. A sigh came next. 

 

"There's another reason as to why I think this Ganon...but it's something we've been trying to ignore." Ganon slowly raised his golden eyes.

 

"In every writings we have the demon Demise possesses a Gerudo."  Ganon felt a familiar burning sensation in his veins. The Hylians had  _ turned their back on the Gerudo! They saw them as below them! Ganon hated them! _

 

"SO YOU ASSUME ME BEING A GERUDO MEANS I'M THE DEMON!" Ganon roared, a hand smashing into a desk. 

 

"No. It is the fact the Gerudo rest in the deserts, were it is easier for the darkness to grow." 

 

"So my home is a pit of darkness then!" 

 

"Of course not Ganon! I mean no offense!" 

 

"Well you've done poorly at showing it!" 

 

The Hylian raised her hands in a show of peace, "I apologize my prince...perhaps there were some...misguided judgements on your people...and I will make sure that no one has such prejudices in the future." She took a shaky breath and it was then Ganon noticed her voice was rattled. 

 

"But what's important is that you're scared of this voice. Are you not?"

 

And damn she was right...Ganon would never admit it but Urbosa had seen him, seen him stumble. He was scared of what he was becoming...and even if Hylia was right or wrong didn't matter...what mattered was the fact his own mother was scared of him. 

 

"Then how do I stop this...demon." Ganon huffed crossing his arms. Julia's smile was gentle and it was tolerable. 

 

"That! We do know! With the magic of the sage," she smiled back at her daughter, "and the courage of the hero, the demon can be sealed." 

 

Ganon nodded at that, bringing a hand to his chin.

"Okay. Then let's do it, I can't stand to stay here another day." A flash of shock then pain ran over the Hylian's features. 

 

"I...wish it were that easy...even if we find the Hero, my daughter has not woken to her spiritual p-" 

"Wait! What do you mean find the Hero?" 

 

Hylia blinked at him with wide blue eyes, "the Hero is never found until the demon is released." 

 

It took a couple seconds for that information to sink in. 

 

"So you're saying I'm doomed."  _ He couldn't trust her! She was leaving him behind! _

"No Ganon! I've already sent out as many discreet search parties that I can! And I have been working as hard as I possibly can to prepare my Zelda for her duty." She stepped closer and something about the way she hovered reminded Ganon of his aunt. 

"I do not want to lose my precious friend's beloved nephew." She lightly stroked a finger down his long hair and Ganon felt he didn't have the heart to glare at her. 

 

"Then I'll search too!" He stated with conviction. 

 

-

  
  


It was then Ganon became thankful that his aunt had made him bring a whole guard with him. He didn't much trust the Hylians, and their overtly peaceful search tactics, they left before questioning everyone and they didn't seem to be enthusiastic about rounding up children. 

 

Ganon had received everything they had about the Hero from the Queen. Now everything wasn't a lot...in fact it was barely anything. It stated he too would be born of the triforce, and that he was usually silent. 

 

Which didn't help much. Hilda had stated that the Hero would hear a voice too, just as Ganon did, and just as Zelda would. Not the same voice as the other two, but a voice of his own, which again wasn't helpful. The only real helpful information-besides the fact the Hero would probably be close of age to Zelda and react to Ganon's power- was that the Hero was always tied to nature in someway. Which mean Ganon and his guard were searching the far outposts of villages, the ones close to forests and over run with nature. 

 

Ganon was desperate in his search, everyday he became more and more willing to quit, the anger swelling in him being pent up like a dam; soon it was going to burst. 

 

It was becoming troubling when the monsters started to follow Ganon's path, stalking behind him in excitement and Ganon didn't care. Especially troubling when at every village Ganon suddenly couldn't find himself being able to step closer to the Hylia Statues. His guards knew something was up but they were above gossiping, but Ganon wasn't above speculating. 

 

He had searched for two months, half convinced that Hilda had sent him on a wild cuccoo chase when he had been given the news. Queen Hilda had died. 

 

Urbosa was to attend the funeral, and Princess Zelda's studies had been halted. Ganon had lost his hope for a sage. Ganon had half wondered if this was Hylia's plan from the beginning...if her hatred for the Gerudo made it so Ganon could never live in peace. It was flawed design in reality...the Hero never showing up until it was too late? Why? Why didn't she have the Hero and Sage born earlier than the Demon...why couldn't she forsee the destruction and not have the land's saviours be mere  _ children! _

 

It made Ganon sick. 

_ What kind of goddess sent out children to fight wars!? _

_ What kind of goddess waited until the land was in destruction to save it?!  _

 

_ The kind that wanted to reinforce their power.  _

 

The voice was right...maybe...maybe it wasn't the Hylians...maybe they were just as tricked as the Gerudo had been. 

 

Of course the Hylians would find solstice in a goddess that saved them...but no one realized that that same goddess orchestrated their own peril. 

 

Was that Hylia's plan...to wait until the land was so desperate for a God she stepped forward to help?

 

_ Goodness, light, love, what a joke...Hylia was none of those things.  _

 

Ganon had given up on his search then, they were far up by the Zora's and Ganon realized he could not stop this cruel curse from Hylia. Besides, the voice inside Ganon was sounding closer to his own everyday. The voice showed him the truth, showed him how weak and lost the land was, hoodwinked by a Goddess parading around as benevolent. 

 

So Ganon started his trek back home, torn between feeling shortchanged and invigorated. On one hand there very might well be a demon inside Ganon's skin, but on the other...was a demon really something that helped you and showed you the truth of the world? 

 

It was a complicated feeling and as he walked over mountains he knew he wouldn't have his answer by the time he returned home.  

 

By his first week traveling back he no longer permitted his guards to pray in his sight. He had seen their eyes and their confusion despite being masked, Ganon didn't outright stop the worship since he knew change took time. Even Ganon need a couple weeks to accept the truth. 

 

It was the beginning of the second week Ganon saw it. At first it took a moment to realize what it was; a funeral procession. Men walking in a far line to burn men...at a closer glance they were guards...royal ones at that. 

 

Ganon suddenly remembered Hilda saying about her discreet search parties. So some of them had perished. Ganon could see the Hylians praying and crying...in mourning. But something shined bright, like a metal piece catching the light and hitting him in the eye. Ganon turned his head to meet the most fierce blue eyes he had ever seen. But with a blink those eyes were gone, and the funeral procession continued. There were Zora's in the line and when they reached the river they were helping the raft out into the water. His guards watched silently at the display and something about it clenched at Ganon's heart. 

 

The Zora's easily pushed the raft out in the water and then there were archers and a fire. It was so oddly silent and watching this moment seemed far to intimate for Ganon. 

 

So they continued. 

 

He knew his guards had inquired what had happened, he knew he already knew the answer, monsters.

 

They were swarming lately and getting bolder in their adventuring, building outposts and destroying villages, and Ganon didn't have the heart to see what was wrong with that. They were creatures too, they were searching for homes just as anyone was. 

 

It would be a day later that he realized maybe something was up about this funeral procession. It started at lunch honestly, he had happily been eating when he heard it. A weird wind chime like sound of wood hitting wood. He raised his eyes up and met those piercing blue eyes that made him want to punch something. It was a little boy with wild golden hair and dirty hands. He was watching Ganon with interest not fear or anger. Besides the young boy was some sort of woodland sculpting and at moments it seemed to move...even appearing as if it had a leaf mask on. 

 

They made eye contact and the boy stayed impossibly still. And yet the world around him seemed to become alight, the little wood sculpting disappearing from sight and it was no longer anger settling into the pit of Ganon's stomach but perhaps...despair. There was something about those sharp wild eyes that told Ganon this boy had seen far beyond his years and would not find happiness anytime soon. There was a loud whistle and the boy was gone just like before with another blink. Ganon watched the small Hylian child run to what he assumed was his mother. He watched and when the wind caught into his long hair he looked surprised as if hearing something, another bird call perhaps. Ganon turned away...such small children doomed to be in trouble under their goddess. No one deserved that. 

 

When it came to the next day Ganon did not speak to the Zoras or the funeral procession, he and his guards left at daybreak. As he turned around back to his homeland of the sun and heart he looked back for one last glance. 

 

There was that boy with wide eyes looking almost sad to see the foreigners go. In his hands he clutched a small fairy that was fairly noticeable in the sunrise light. Ganon saw the light then on his hand...the mark of the triforce. 

 

Ganon closed his eyes and pushed on...what kind of goddess indeed...Ganon would make sure this realm was free of such a goddess. He would make sure that small boy never had to bear the weight of the world. He would destroy fate if he had to. 

 

He cried that day as they traveled, he cried for himself knowing he had already given into this demons power, he cried for who he used to be, he cried to the young princess Zelda who had lost everything and was born too late for her responsibilities. He cried for Urbosa for posing her precious friend in this cruel world. He cried for the monsters that only wanted to expand their world, and he cried for the soldiers and Hylians deluded into thinking there needed to be a war. But most of all he cried for that small child with golden hair, who Ganon knew was born to never speak a word of his own design, robbed of his words by a goddess that thought sending children into battle was wise. 

 

And by the time the moon rose, Ganon had swept his tears away and replaced them with fury, and for the first time...the moon bled with all the anger Ganon felt, for all the injustice in this world. He would change this world. No matter what. 

**Author's Note:**

> I might do another fic about Link's voice in his head or Zelda's but only if people want it! 
> 
> Let me know what you think! 
> 
> Personally I had had this thought since the first realise of Botw, but after the reveal of the sequel I started to write it! 
> 
> I hope you all liked it!


End file.
